


His Fallen Star

by Endeering



Series: Claudeleth Week (July 19 - 25) [1]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Attempted Murder, Byleth is literally a fallen star child, Claudeleth Week (Fire Emblem), F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Stars
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-20
Updated: 2020-07-20
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:42:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25395571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Endeering/pseuds/Endeering
Summary: Byleth watches over Khalid, the prince of Almyra, as he is chased down by assassins and wishes that she could be by his side instead of stuck among the stars.Khalid wishes for a miracle on the brilliant, verdant star that shines down to him when he needed it most.
Relationships: My Unit | Byleth/Claude von Riegan
Series: Claudeleth Week (July 19 - 25) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1839304
Comments: 6
Kudos: 70





	His Fallen Star

**Author's Note:**

> It's Claudeleth Week! As much as I want to work on "Sand Castle", I just had to write this one out since I myself am a huge astronomy nerd and I love the star motif that's associated with these two.

When Byleth saw him again, he was being chased by assassins.

From her perch in the clouds, surrounded by her fellow glowing, star children in the evening night sky, she could just make out the winding maze of streets and alleyways the boy twisted and turned through as he ran with as much might as an adolescent can. His pursuers leapt from the Almyran edifices, shouting directions toward each other as they tried to corner him into one of the many deadends scattered throughout the capital. 

_ ‘Is that the half-blood prince again? How does that boy constantly get put into such perilous situations?’ _ Sothis mused from within Byleth’s mind. The small goddess incarnate agreed, though with much less intrigue and much more concern for him. 

It wasn’t the first time she had seen him almost killed. When he first prayed to the stars, he was on his deathbed. He writhed and regurgitated his dinner, shivering and feverish as Byleth looked on through the nursery window.  _ ‘White snakeroot’ _ Sothis had said,  _ ‘the feeder must have neglected to check the feed of the cow before it was slaughtered.’ _ She was proven wrong when the head chef was executed, beheaded at the foot of the throne three days later for attempted assassination. 

Byleth was pulled from her thoughts when the boy stopped at an intersection, hands on his knees and breathing heavily. He collapsed against the nearest wall before quickly readjusting his headscarf and scanning his surroundings. 

“A locked door, some crates, and a broken window further down toward the right. He should sprint to the window and hide inside,” Byleth straightened her back and leaned forward to get a closer look, hand in the air to steady herself. 

The boy seemed to have been thinking the same thing as he took a step towards it before he froze. His braid whipped across his cheek as he heard footsteps approach. With a quick pivot, he ran back towards the… door at the opposite alley?

_ ‘What does he intend to do with a locked door?!’ _ Sothis exclaimed, the last two words echoing within Byleth’s head like a mantra. She held her breath, fearful for his life as the occasional shout of Almyran grew ever closer. 

To their surprise, the door opened just as the prince hid behind it. The shop employee, judging by his attire, was none the wiser of the prince cowering on the other side as he tossed crates full of rotten food out to the side. When he looked up, he spied the pursuers walking up to him, likely to ask him if they’ve seen a boy walking through these parts. The prince held his breath, hands over his mouth as he tensed up. The man, suspicious of such a question by a group of fully-covered vagrants, shook his head and they turned away to leave. He watched them go before he closed the door for the night and the boy dropped to the ground, head on his knees but relieved that the worst was over. Soon enough, the relief faded into despair as he suppressed his sobs, his body trembling and aching. 

‘He’s so far from the castle.’ Byleth looked up in the direction of the shining lights of the castle on the hill, intricate carvings into the stone and sweeping pillars in all its glory. 

“Sothis, can we do anything to help?” Byleth asked, aloud now as she stood up. 

_ ‘Little one, we cannot. Wishes cannot be granted by our will alone,’ _ Sothis replied softly. Byleth can feel the goddess’s deep sympathy blend into her own as they could only look on helplessly as the prince cried and cried. 

* * *

Khalid was tired. So very tired. He could hear and feel the blood continue to rush through his head, leaving him dizzy as he sat in the pitchblack alleyway. He lifted his hands up to the sky and in the faint light of the moon, he saw the grime and muck on them, the same specks of filth that were likely on his face too as he wiped away his tears. 

‘I must blend in now, huh?,’ he reviled before recoiling, repulsed at himself both physically and mentally. He took in a shaky breath and bumped his head into the wall softly, in case anyone would hear on the other side, staring up at the cloudy night sky. 

Khalid never believed in gods, not in the same way many others have. He hears tales of the Fodlandi Goddess from his mother, yet he could never understand praying for good fortune and thanking an invisible deity for granting it. Why should he thank someone who abandoned him and damned him to suffer alone for merely existing? Ridiculous. 

At least the stars would never leave him. They twinkled above his head, bright and naive of the world below them. They comforted him when he was alone, a reminder that the world was more than just his own problems. Khalid counted the constellations he could name off the top of his head, his eyes gliding between each star before one caught his attention. 

A small, luminescent green star was nestled in between the Great Wyvern and the Northern Star. 

He had never noticed this one before. It definitely was not in the maps of the sky that he studied with his astronomy professor, nor in the ancient scrolls of the constellations he found in his late-night wanderings. He knew for certain that neither the Great Wyvern nor the Northern Star included this one as it stood alone in the sea of lights. 

‘Just like me,’ Khalid thought whimsically. ‘Stuck between two groups with nowhere to go.’

He looked down at his hands in his lap, and then back up. A silly idea came to mind but he wasn’t sure if it would work. Maybe the gods were finally, belatedly, giving him a sign. ‘Maybe I can never have good fortune or a normal life, but I can at least have some kind of small miracle right? Just one, please?’ 

Slowly, carefully, he adjusted his worn muscles to move himself into a kneeling position before clasping his hands together in prayer. It felt unfamiliar to him, unaccustomed to the practice despite his royal upbringing, but his curiosity was unyielding as it tugged at his heart.

* * *

Byleth felt strange. As she stared at the prince, she could feel her heart being constricted and pulled downward toward him.

_ ‘You fool! Stars are forbidden from interacting with humans like this!’ _ Sothis chastised but Byleth could already feel herself learning too far forward into the open air. Before she realized it, all she could see was the earth rushing to meet her and the wind whistling in her ears. 

* * *

Behind his closed eyes, Khalid could sense that something was happening and whatever it was, it was blindingly bright. The searing heat that came with it made him retreat further into the nonexistent space between himself and the wall as he waited for the light to fade. He cracked open his eyes to peer at what appeared. 

In front of him laid a young girl, not much older than he was, with shimmering mint green hair spilling across the dirt and a white tunic embroidered with interlacing patterns of loops and curves. She startled awake before he could say a word, equally green eyes wide with surprise and panic as she pushed herself up and glanced around her. 

“Who… Who are you?” Khalid whispered, awed at the sight before him. She shook her head, golden dust falling from her hair like fine sand before she crawled over to him. He flinches away, apprehensive of what she intends to do.

A gentle touch. He looks up to see her hand on his head. She starts stroking his dark strands, making sure to not undo the carefully wrapped headscarf. Khalid can feel himself leaning in, the loneliness that dwelled inside his heart slowly ebbing away. The girl shook with silent laughter and he looked up, eyes focused on her verdant ones spotted with gold flakes. 

Time seemed to stop between them and instead of dread at the thought, he felt… peaceful. Like he had found a place to call home. Just him and this mysterious miracle.

However, fate was cruel and Khalid could feel his eyes droop and his forehead unceremoniously drop onto the girl’s shoulder. The hand on his head stopped moving and her other hand wrapped around him to hold him up, just as delicately. Before he drifted off into a sound slumber, he heard a faint voice in his ears with the lulling cadence of tiny bells. 

“My name is Byleth and I've fallen for you. Sweet dreams, dear prince.” 


End file.
